Following the informal European Council meeting in January, President Barroso wrote to the eight Member States with youth unemployment levels significantly above the EU average, including Ireland. In his letter President Barroso offered the assistance of the Commission to explore ways to combat youth unemployment and increase supports for small and medium sized enterprises. A team of European Commission officials then visited Dublin in February to discuss the challenges of youth unemployment. The Commission's main focus was on how best to maximise European structural funds in order to meet the challenges posed by youth unemployment. The team met with officials from Government Departments and relevant stakeholders and discussed the various measures being carried out by Ireland to combat unemployment.
The Government officials conveyed to the Commission team that Ireland was acutely aware of the urgency in tackling the issue of youth unemployment and outlined the measures currently being taken to get youth back to work, while recognising that youth unemployment also needs to be viewed against the backdrop of a very difficult labour market situation generally. The Government outlined the wide range of measures contained in the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work, which were aimed at improving employment prospects, including for young people. As part of the European Commission initiative, Member States were asked to consider whether Structural Funds could be re-allocated to help tackle youth unemployment. However, Ireland, uniquely among the Member States in question, has fully absorbed its Structural Funds allocation, through careful prioritisation exercises, thus providing little scope for reallocation of funds.
Following the Commission visit and subsequent engagement, it was decided that the new Labour Market Education and Training Fund for 2012 would be co-financed at a rate of 50% by the ESF (up to €10 million). This fund is an important Government labour market initiative and one of the Fund's four core themes is specifically dedicated to the under 25s. Furthermore, in his oral update to the recent informal European Council President Barroso noted that the Department of Education and skills has further identified €25 million in ESF funding that will support continued investment in the Youthreach programme which provides education, training and work experience to young people who have left school early.
The Government remains committed to tackling youth unemployment as part of its overall and ongoing efforts to rebuild the economy and create jobs.